Drop in water level kills tonnes of fish in Tonle Chhmar lake

More than 25 tonnes of fish have died since Saturday in Kampong Thom province’s Stoung district following a drop in Tonle Chhmar lake’s water level. Huon Phal, fishery administration chief in the district’s Peam Bang commune, yesterday said that the fish in the lake died due to a lack of oxygen.

“Fish have died because of the severe hot weather which caused the water level in the lake to drop, leading to a lack of oxygen,” he said. He noted that this year the number of fish which have died is lower than in previous years because the authorities had planted water hyacinths to shelter fish from the sun.

“Now, the water levels in the lake is between 0.1 meters and 0.5 meters and people are worried that the entire fish population may perish,” he said. Pen Vannarith, provincial fishery administration chief, yesterday said more than 25 tonnes of fish died since Saturday because of the low water levels.

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